Nassau County’s Agreement with ICE to Detain Illegal Immigrants

Nassau County is set to detain around 3,000 undocumented immigrants this year, thanks to an arrangement with federal officials facilitating collaboration between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

This agreement involves ICE leasing up to 50 cells at East Meadow Jail for $195 per night. County officials indicated on Tuesday that, by year’s end, they expect to have housed thousands of individuals in the U.S. illegally.

“All communities, especially Nassau County’s Hispanic American community, support working with ICE to keep our neighborhoods safe and to alleviate overcrowding in our schools,” stated Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

Earlier this year, Blakeman introduced this initiative, emphasizing that it would create additional local jail space for undocumented immigrants. The plan also includes training for 10 county police officers with federal authorities, granting them significant powers to detain immigrants without a warrant.

“Nassau County is the first in the nation to enter a fully comprehensive agreement with ICE under the 287(g) program and will continue collaborating with ICE to protect our region from unvetted illegal immigrants who commit serious offenses,” Blakeman remarked at the time.

Although the 10 officers have received ICE training, county officials announced on Tuesday that they haven’t yet been tasked with assisting ICE in operations.

Despite this, Nassau authorities noted in July that they were seeing results, with 1,400 migrants in custody at that moment, a number that has increased to 2,188.

On average, about 274 immigrants have been detained monthly, with June seeing the highest numbers, totaling 437 detained, followed by 380 in April and 363 in August, according to county data.

One of those detained was Santos Vanegas Reyes, a 42-year-old from Honduras, who was apprehended for crossing the U.S. border illegally even after being deported three times. Tragically, he died in Nassau County custody last month, with federal reports suggesting that liver failure complicated by alcoholism was the likely cause.

Simultaneously, the New York Civil Liberties Union is suing Nassau County and Police Chief Patrick Ryder regarding their agreements with ICE. The NYCLU contends that these contracts infringe upon a state law that prevents local law enforcement from detaining individuals solely for civil immigration violations.